Fact or Fiction: Motorcycle Gangs

Since at least the 1960s, outlaw motorcycle gangs like the Hells Angels, the Outlaws and the Mongols have ruled the roads. The FBI considers OMGs to be some of the most dangerous organized criminal syndicates. Test your knowledge on the history and present day activities of these unruly riders on two wheels.

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Question 1 of 20

The Hells Angels were the first outlaw motorcycle gang in the U.S.

Fact

Fiction

The Hells Angels might be the most well known of the outlaw motorcycle gangs, but the Outlaws Motorcycle Club is the true original. Founded in Chicago in 1936, the Outlaws is the oldest of today's OMGs. Its members were even the first to wear "colors" on their jackets.

Question 2 of 20

The Outlaws Motorcycle Club based their skull and crossed pistons logo, affectionately named "Charlie," on a similar logo featured in a Marlon Brando movie.

Fact

The gang had already been around for more than 20 years when the movie came out, but they were so inspired by Marlon Brando in the 1957 movie "The Wild One" that they adapted the biker logo from the movie for their own.

Fiction

Question 3 of 20

Outlaw motorcycle gangs are uniquely American; none have been formed in any other countries.

Fact

Fiction

Today, there are OMGs almost anywhere there are roads. Australia and Canada have had a huge explosion of outlaw motorcycle gangs in recent years, as have countries in Latin America, Europe and Asia. Often, the OMGs are fronts for international drug trafficking.

Question 4 of 20

In 1969, a Hells Angel committed an alleged murder in the crowd at a Rolling Stones concert, an incident sometimes called the death of the '60s.

Fact

The Hells Angel was later acquitted for the murder, and the event itself is still somewhat mysterious. For example, no one is sure whether the Hells Angels were actually hired by The Stones to provide security, as they claim. But the public outcry over the event permanently changed the Angels' reputation for the worse.

Fiction

Question 5 of 20

The "1 percenter" moniker for motorcycle clubs refers to the FBI's claim that only 1 percent of motorcycle enthusiasts are in violent gangs.

Fact

Fiction

It was the American Motorcyclist Association, not the FBI, that made the now infamous "1 percent" comment, in the wake of the Hollister, Calif., biker riot of 1947.

Question 6 of 20

Outlaw motorcycle gangs refuse to associate with other organized crime groups like the mafia and urban street gangs.

Fact

Fiction

Especially in recent decades, biker gangs have opened up more and more ties with more traditional organized crime outfits like the mafia and street gangs. Just to name a few examples, The Pagan's have ties to the Aryan Brotherhood and the Italian mob, and the Mongols have ties to gangs based in South L.A.'s Hispanic community.

Question 7 of 20

Unlike street gangs, motorcycle gangs don't use their "colors" to claim their turf.

Fact

Fiction

Motorcycle gangs are extremely territorial, and they use the unmistakable patches or colors sewn onto their leather jackets to make their claims as visible as possible.

Question 8 of 20

The Bandidos Motorcycle Club based its club colors on the cartoon character Speedy Gonzales.

Fact

Fiction

Supposedly, the Bandidos based their club colors on the Fritos Corn Chips mascot, the Frito Bandito. Even that claim is shrouded in rumor, though.

Question 9 of 20

The Hells Angels is the world's largest OMG, with 2,500 members and 250 chapters spread across six continents.

Fact

Although chapters in different countries often don't have much contact with each other, the Hells Angels is the most widespread and well-organized OMG in the world. It still hasn't been able to make much headway with an Antarctica chapter, though.

The various outlaw motorcycle gangs actually fight each other regularly over control of turf, both in the U.S. and around the world. These turf wars can involve, not only brawls and shootings, but also arson and bombings.

Question 11 of 20

Larger gangs, like the Mongols and Hells Angels, have copyrighted the images of their club colors.

Fact

The word "Mongols" written in an arch, in a sans serif font, was copyrighted by the gang in 2009. Unfortunately for the Mongols, the U.S. government successfully filed an injunction that year to have the copyright taken from them.

Fiction

Question 12 of 20

In spite of their involvement in criminal activity, leaders of outlaw motorcycle gangs like the Hells Angels insist that the groups themselves do not plan or condone any illegal activity.

Fact

Outlaw motorcycle gangs, for the most part, maintain that they are fraternal organizations. According to them, their members might get into trouble, but their frequent criminal records are mostly a result of government persecution.

Fiction

Question 13 of 20

Members who leave outlaw motorcycle clubs must have any tattoos with the clubs' logos removed.

Fact

Gang members also have to seek permission from club leadership before having the tattoos put on. Usually, permission is granted in return for some service to the club, like incarceration, or an attack on a rival gang member.

Fiction

Question 14 of 20

The "big four" outlaw motorcycle gangs, according to the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, are the Hells Angels, the Finks, the Outlaws and The Warlocks.

Fact

Fiction

The "big four" actually consists of the Hells Angels, the Outlaws, The Pagan's and the Bandidos.

Question 15 of 20

One of the most common criminal enterprises among outlaw motorcycle gangs is involvement in the illicit drug trade.

Fact

According to law enforcement, OMGs use illicit drug trafficking to fund their operations, and to allow them to buy weapons to combat rival gangs. OMG activity is particularly heavy along the U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico, where the gangs are involved in cross-border smuggling.

While multi-colored wings are a staple of motorcycle club jackets, the idea that they represent sex acts is actually a joke played on gullible journalists by the bikers themselves.

Question 17 of 20

"Sonny" Barger, perhaps the most famous biker gang leader of all time, founded the notorious Sons of Silence Motorcycle Club.

Fact

Fiction

Barger actually founded the Hells Angels, and rode with the gang and served as its unofficial spokesman from its beginning until he was incarcerated in the 1980s and forbidden by the government to associate with them. He still remains one of its most vocal supporters.

Question 18 of 20

According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Mongols Motorcycle Club is the "most violent and dangerous" in the United States.

Fact

The Mongols is by no means the largest of the OMGs; it isn't even one of the big four. But it has gained a reputation because of its extremely violent activity, including a decades-long turf war with its rival, the Hells Angels, in Southern California.

Fiction

Question 19 of 20

All motorcycle clubs today are considered "outlaw" groups.

Fact

Fiction

Just like the AMA said back in 1947, the majority of motorcycle clubs today are made up of enthusiasts looking to have fun. Only a small amount of bikers can really be considered outlaws, no matter how scary they may look.

Question 20 of 20

The Hollister, Calif., riot in 1947, involving biker clubs was one of the most violent incidents in American history, at the time.

Fact

Fiction

A media uproar and a public outcry over motorcycle gangs erupted after Hollister, but the event itself was not as violent as the press made out. While the bikers did ride through the streets drinking at all hours and destroying property, they weren't particularly violent.